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Friday Alert
Friday, June 13, 2008(Alliance for Retired Americans)
Medicare Bill that Would Have Helped
Seniors Fails to Gain Enough
Support
On Thursday, the U.S.
Senate did not reach the 60 votes needed for
cloture on S. 3101, the “Medicare Improvements
for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.”
The vote was 54-39 in favor of the bill, but 60
votes were needed to prevent a filibuster from
blocking the legislation. Called the
Baucus-Snowe bill, the legislation would have
made sure that doctors who see Medicare
patients are paid adequately, so that they
would continue to take patients covered by
Medicare. In addition, the bill would
have improved the Medicare program for
low-income seniors and stopped the abusive
marketing techniques of private Medicare
Advantage plans by requiring them to report on
quality care measures. Many
rapid-response Alliance members, after being
contacted by e-mail, called the U.S. Capitol
switchboard and asked their Senators to vote in
favor of the bill. “S. 3101 would have
protected America’s seniors and people with
disabilities. A vote against S.3101 was a
vote against retirees,” said Ruben
Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the
Alliance. “Especially in this economy,
seniors need help with rising healthcare
costs.” For a tabulation of the vote, go
to http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00149
.
Sen. McCain Tries to Run from His
Record on Social Security
In a
press release on Friday (today), the Alliance
called upon Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ) to clarify his position on Social
Security privatization, in the wake of
inconsistent statements and votes on the
subject. In response to a town hall
question posed by New Hampshire Alliance
President John Mendolusky,
Senator McCain said, "I am not for quote
'privatization of Social Security.' I
never have been, never will be.” The
Nashua Telegraph reported his
response. In a March 3 interview with
The Wall Street Journal, however, Sen.
McCain had said, “As part of Social Security
reform, I believe that private savings accounts
are a part of it -- along the lines that
President Bush
proposed." The same article said that
Sen. McCain is considering raising the Social
Security retirement age to 68 and reducing the
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). In 2006
he had voted to shift Social Security’s annual
surpluses into a reserve account that would be
converted into private accounts. Earlier
in his Senate career, Sen. McCain voted twice
to replace Social Security’s guaranteed
benefits with income from risk-based private
investments. “Senator McCain always has
been and always will be a privatizer,” said
Edward Coyle, Executive
Director of the Alliance.
Sen. Obama Speaks on the Economy,
Social Security
In a speech on the
economy in Raleigh, North Carolina on Monday,
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
reiterated his plan to protect Social Security
without using privatization and without raising
the retirement age. Sen. Obama said that
he would save Social Security for future
generations by asking the wealthiest Americans
to pay their fair share of taxes.
According to The Wall Street Journal,
Sen. Obama has a plan to ensure that the
majority of middle-income earners do not see
their payroll taxes increased. Under
current law, Social Security taxes are
collected only on the first $102,000 of an
individual's income, indexed for
inflation. The Obama plan, called the
"donut hole," would tax all income below the
$102,000-level and all income above a threshold
to be determined. That threshold could be
set around $250,000. Ohio Alliance
President Dave Friesner
participated in Sen. Obama’s Seniors event
today (Friday) in Columbus.
Record Number of Americans Using
Retirement Funds for Emergency
Cash
According to The Boston
Globe, more Americans than ever are
dipping into their retirement savings early,
risking their future financial security to
afford medical bills, mortgages and rising fuel
and food costs. This development has
concerned many financial specialists, who
already believe people are not putting enough
into long-term savings. CitiStreet,
Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc.,
the nation’s largest administrators of 401(k)
retirement savings plans, have all reported
increased early withdrawals from these accounts
in 2007; the number of hardship withdrawals
rose as much as 16 and 17%. To qualify
for a hardship withdrawal, applicants must show
financial adversity such as high medical or
educational bills, facing foreclosure or
repairing a home damaged by a natural
disaster. While individual accounts such
as 401(k)’s were rare only three decades ago,
when most Americans relied on guaranteed
pensions and Social Security to fund
retirement, workers today have $3 trillion in
401(k) plans. “These situations
underscore how important it is to preserve and
strengthen the guaranteed benefits of Social
Security so that people have something they can
count on,” said George J.
Kourpias, President of the
Alliance.
Alliance Speakers Featured at Two
Energy Crisis Events on Capitol
Hill
On Tuesday, Richard
Fiesta, Director of Government and
Political Affairs for the Alliance, joined
Senators Richard Durbin, Patty
Murray, and Byron
Dorgan, as well as a coalition of
labor, environmental, and citizens’ advocacy
groups, at a U.S. Capitol press conference
addressing energy prices. The press
conference was called to discuss the energy
crisis and the Consumer-First Energy Act of
2008, which would address the root cause of gas
prices, encourage development of alternative
energy, and reduce America’s dependence on
oil. The Act is important to seniors who
depend on Meals on Wheels, which is struggling
because it has lost many volunteer drivers over
gas prices. On Friday (today),
Maryland/DC Alliance member Sadie
Coleman spoke at a news conference
addressing the economy, the energy crisis,
taxes, and job creation. Ms. Coleman
joined Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, Sen. Dorgan, Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
SEIU member Treena Walker; and
a recent college graduate at the event.
Let Us Know if You Deserve Credit
for Spreading the Word
The Alliance
is trying to calculate just how many thousands
of people read the Friday Alert. Do you
forward the Friday Alert each week to a large
number of people? If you normally pass it
on via e-mail to 10 or more fellow readers – or
make copies and circulate at least ten hard
copies to friends and associates - we want to
know! We do not need their names, but
please e-mail the number of people to whom you
forward it to arafridayalert@retiredamericans.org
.
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